1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle turntables useful for rotating motor vehicles about a pivot point so that they may be driven in a direction opposite that which they were driven onto the turntable. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel two vehicle, garage-installable turntable having a pair of linearly movable platforms which decrease the inter-vehicle distance during rotation, thereby permitting its use in a garage of reduced size.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Although it is nearly always safer and more convenient to drive a vehicle forward than to drive it in reverse looking over one's shoulder, in many instances, this is not possible. As land becomes more expensive in cities and heavily populated urban areas, driveways sufficiently wide for a vehicle to make an unbroken U-turn, so that it may drive in a forward direction into the street, are becoming increasingly scarce. It is also well known that, as individuals age, their spatial judgement degrades. This problem is compounded by the inability of many older adults to fully turn their heads. Thus, backing out of a garage is potentially hazardous for the vehicle, the garage and any bystanders. Although it would be highly advantageous to be able to drive forward out of a garage and into the adjacent street, this would require either a garage having front and rear doors (not even an option for garages in most residential areas) or backing into the garage (even more dangerous than backing out of the garage). Still another alternative would be to rotate the vehicle 180 degrees on a turntable while it is in the garage, so that it may driven out in a forward direction.
Motor vehicle turntables are nearly as old as the automobile. One of the earliest vehicle turntables, fabricated entirely of metal, and adapted for use in warehouses, garages, factories and similar facilities, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 922,643 to H. M. Verplanck. A geared vehicle turntable for use in small private garages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,379,239 to John Barwicki. A vehicle turntable, which functions as an anti-theft device by locking a vehicle in a garage in a transverse position, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,661,123 to L. B. Kocsis. A vehicle turntable which uses dynamometer-type rollers to rotate the turntable using power supplied via the wheels of a vehicle, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,881,033 to George A. Smith. A gear-driven vehicle turntable which rides on large ball bearings trapped between circular grooves in the turntable and the mounting base is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,798 to Herbert G. Peitzman. A vehicle turntable operated by the weight distribution of the vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,774 to Alexander Dehring. A turntable equipped with position detectors for small, medium and large automobiles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,422 to Peter B. McBride. A vehicle turntable employing an automobile-mounted transmitter and a turntable-mounted receiver, and which can only be operated when the transmitter and receiver are vertically aligned, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,929 to Kap Y. Park. A portable, low-profile vehicle turntable for placement on a driveway is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,837 to Alfred E. Valencia. A vehicle fluid-floatable turntable, that tips about a central axis to inhibit turning while loading, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,428 to Charles A. Hyte, et al. A vehicle turntable, installable within a cylindrical pit in a driveway and having a friction chain drive system, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,704 to Wieland R. Mueller, et al. A vehicle turntable mounted atop a lift is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,357 to Wallace E. Boswell. A vehicle turntable, adapted for installation in a garage and having a removable manhole cover in the rotating surface of the platform for maintenance of the components below the platform, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,160 to Charles N. Blufordcraving. A vehicle turntable, that can be assembled without any welding of components, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,106 B1 to Elijah Knight.
Although, as can be seen from the cited prior art, there are many examples of turntables which are designed to permit the repositioning of a vehicle on a driveway, these prior turntables require extensive installation in the driveway itself, where they are subjected to the elements, the weather, as well as trespassers and vandals. However, mounting a turntable in the driveway solves only half the problem, as one must still back up the vehicle out of the garage and onto the turntable.
Although a vehicle turntable installed within a garage would appear to be most advantageous, most garages in this country typically house vehicles in pairs. Thus, any vehicle turntable installed within a garage would have to be designed to rotate a pair of vehicles simultaneously, as there would be insufficient space to rotate a single vehicle at a time if two vehicles in the garage are positioned several feet apart. As there needs to be at least three feet of space between vehicles parked side-by-side in a garage to prevent doors from hitting the adjacent vehicle and to provide convenient access to the interior of the vehicle, such a vehicle turntable would require a garage that is much larger than a standard double-car garage.
What is needed is a vehicle turntable, adapted for installation in a garage, that reduces the diameter of rotation for a pair of vehicles so that the garage which houses the turntable may be reduced in size.